Leading research nations are recognizing gender issues and acting to improve gender balance throughout the research ecosystem. Although important gains have been made in gender equality in research—such as increases in the number of women enrolling in and completing STEM education, and in the professional engagement of women in STEM occupations—gender disparities persist in the research ecosystem. These disparities are more acute the higher one looks in the professional hierarchy. Reliance on bibliometric statistics for promotions and in grant competitions is rising worldwide. If women are at a disadvantage relative to their male counterparts in terms of research output, then women might very well get stuck in a vicious circle: having lower scores for bibliometric indicators reduces the chance of being funded and/or reduces the actual amount of funding secured, which in turn can reduce capacity to increase research output and scientific impact. The current understanding of gender dimensions in research output and impact is undeveloped. Science-Metrix is working on the development of new gender disaggregated indicators on scientific publications. This presentation first outlines some preliminary results on the participation of women in scientific publications. Men-women co-authorship is then examined and compared to same-gender collaboration. The presentation highlights differences in regard to team multidisciplinarity and scientific impacts, and discusses potential implications for team science.

See the presentation here [PDF].

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